Bedtime Stories
by eightyeightkate
Summary: Dean's daughter Mary crawls into bed one night demanding a story. Dean complies.


"Daddy."

Dean rolled over and pulled the pillow over his head.

"Daddy."

Dean groaned and pressed the pillow down harder.

"Daddy!"

Dean rolled back over, pulled off the pillow, and squinted into the darkness.

A pair of shining blue eyes stared back, wide and glistening.

"Daddy."

He rubbed his eyes. "Mary, it's..." He glanced over at the bright red digital readout of the clock. "...Three in the morning. Go back to bed."

"Daddy, I had a bad dream. I'm scared."

Dean sighed and reached out two hands, lifting the slight form of his daughter and tucking her under the blankets next to him. She instantly snuggled close, laying her head on his chest and clutching his t-shirt.

"Can you go back to sleep now?" he asked gruffly. She shook her head emphatically.

"I need a story first," she insisted.

Dean sighed. "What story do you wanna hear?"

She wriggled closer. "Tell me about the hero and the big brother and the angel."

"Okay, baby," he said. "Once upon a time, way before you were born, it was the end of the world.

"The hero was in love with this girl, and she gave him lots of power. He liked it because he could use the power to save people from monsters, and he did. He saved lots of people. His big brother didn't like the girl though, and they fought a lot about her."

"That's dumb," she interjected. He chuckled.

"Yeah, a little," Dean continued. "The hero was also a little scared of his big brother, because his big brother had just been brought back to life by an angel. He didn't know if his big brother was really his big brother."

"Of course he was really his big brother, that's stupid," Mary pouted.

"Well, these were scary times, and better safe than sorry, right?"

"I guess..."

"Anyway, the hero got stronger by the day, but the stronger he got the more he and his big brother fought. The hero didn't realize that the girl he loved was using him to make the world end."

"How could he not realize? Was he dumb or something?"

Dean laughed quietly. "He wasn't dumb, just in love. People do dumb things when they're in love, sweetie."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Meanwhile, the big brother and his angel were getting closer and closer. The angel got thrown out of heaven because the other angels were jealous of how much he loved the big brother. Also, he was way prettier than the rest of them."

Mary giggled. "All angels are pretty, Daddy. That's why they're called angels."

Dean smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, but this one was even prettier than usual. Now are you gonna let me finish the story?"

She nodded. He grinned. "Okay then. So the hero got more and more powerful and eventually he set off to kill the biggest baddest thing in the whole world – and he did it, too! He was so happy. But it turned out that killing that one big bad thing opened the gate to a whole lot of other big bad things."

"Shouldn't he have made sure that wouldn't happen before he killed the big bad thing in the first place?"

"Maybe. But he didn't, although his big brother and the angel tried to warn him, because the girl he loved got in the way. She was kind of evil. When the big brother caught up with the hero, it was too late, and the gate was already open. Together they killed the woman the hero loved, which was kind of sad, but she was evil and deserved it.

"The big bad things that they let out started killing people all over, and the new biggest baddest thing was the devil himself! The angels were very upset by all the demons and the devil running around, so they tried to make the hero and his big brother let the devil and the strongest angel take over their bodies so they could fight and end the world."

"That makes no sense," she protested. "Why would the angels want the world to end?"

"It's pretty complicated," he acknowledged. "Mostly they're just dicks."

"Angels aren't dicks," she argued. "If they're dicks then they're not angels."

He snorted. "Yeah, I wish. Anyway, so the hero came up with a plan to defeat the devil. It was dangerous and probably wouldn't work, but he tried it anyway."

"Did it work?" Mary asked.

"You're alive right now, aren't you?" Dean replied teasingly. "The big brother wasn't happy with the plan, and the angels had to find another brother to be the host for the strong angel. There was a big battle, and the angel and the big brother almost died, but in the end they won, and the hero jumped into hell, carrying the devil with him."

"He really was a hero," she said in awe. He squeezed her tight.

"Yeah, he was."

"So then what happened?" the little girl asked, squeezing back.

"A lot of things," Dean said. "But eventually everything was okay, and the hero even came back to life. So you see, everything'll be fine in the end. Go to sleep now."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"I love you," she mumbled into his shoulder.

He kissed her head again. "I love you too. Now go to sleep, Daddy's tired."

In only a few moments she was out like a light, breathing slow and even into his neck. There was a rustle of blankets behind him and then lips pressed onto his cheek, warm and dry.

"The reason for my expulsion from heaven had nothing to do with my appearance," Castiel muttered, wrapping his arms around Dean and Mary.

"I know, but it makes for a better story this way," Dean returned, meeting Castiel's lips with his own. "Do I need to tell you a story, too, or are you gonna sleep now?"

Castiel smiled and buried his face in Dean's shoulder. "Sleep, I suppose. You should rest, too."

"Yeah, working on it. 'Night, angel."

"Good night, Dean."


End file.
